MOOChing Some Knowledge

This post sort of takes off on my last in that we are usually under the impression that things like government and education have to come from some external, validated, institutional, etc., source. I have believed for a little while now that technology and the endless resource that is the World Wide Web have the ability to eventually supplant formal education systems. Little did I know that this evolution has already begun to a degree.

What is regarded as the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), Shimon Schocken and Noam Nisan created a curriculum called From NAND to Tetris, which basically takes you from an understanding of Boolean logic gates all the way to building your own full-fledged computer system.

The following TED talk video (I’ve been pretty big on these lately) features Schocken overviewing the development of his MOOC, and if there was ever a video to encompass the topics of education, math, and technology, while promoting the practice of autodidacticism, or self-directed learning, this is the one. He also shares a couple of his views on grading and the traditional college education which I especially enjoyed. I highly encourage you to look into the From NAND to Tetris course, and be sure to watch this video and take the quiz. Have a great fall break!